Cohasset’s Wheelwright Park

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Consider your routines. On the roads you travel with some regularity, are there places you’ve always intended to stop, but never have? Do you pass signs for parks and conservation lands, little dirt parking areas that give no indication as to what might be down the paths leading away from them? The South Shore is home to many places such as these. Some small, some large – all offer a worthwhile diversion.

Years ago I had a part-time job in Cohasset Village. If I happened to be heading north after work, I almost always left town via Main Street, where I would pass, but never stop at, Wheelwright Park. The large wooden sign over the entrance indicated that the site had some significance, but somehow I never got around to exploring it.

I’m making an effort lately to visit conservation areas like these – parcels I pass while riding my bike, or at night, or when I’m heading someplace else. Now I’m going back – on purpose, during the day, when I have time to see what there is to see.

Wheelwright Park in Cohasset is the gateway to a set of interconnected open space areas. The parking lot, at the end of a gravel drive, offers immediate access to the park itself, as well as the Barnes Wildlife Sanctuary. There is also a Boy Scout campground within hiking distance, a skating pond, a picnic area, and the large and diverse parcel known as the Cornelia & Richardson White Woods, which is part of Holly Hill Farm. Some of the trails, originally put in place by the WPA, date back to 1935.

Altogether the parcels comprise more than 200 acres of open space – a little bit of meadow, but mostly pine and oak woods, along with groves of holly. I visited recently with a friend and her dogs, on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Leashes are required in the parking lot, but otherwise, dogs are permitted to run free, as long as they are kept under control. Trooper and Little Foot enjoyed our visit immensely. We encountered a number of other dogs on our route, most off-leash.

First we followed the main trail, a wide cart path that winds its way to the second entrance, at Forest Avenue. Along the way were occasional giant boulders – glacial erratics – large enough to make me stop and think about how they got there. The boulders, which have been in place far longer than any manmade structure, remind me that great sheets of ice once covered the land. It was the receding of these glaciers that carved our present landscape -- the hills and valleys, the riverbeds and ponds. The glaciers also dropped the occasional boulder . . . thus in Wheelwright and its environs you’ll find such behemoths as Big Tippling Rock, Little Tippling Rock, Split Rock, and the Devil’s Chair.

The cart path traverses hilly terrain – not too steep, but enough to get one’s heart pumping. There are also assorted, narrower trails that lead off in either direction. After following the main trail all the way to Forest Avenue, we backtracked to the signs that marked the entrance to White Woods. I wished we’d brought a map – there were so many options! Instead we followed our instincts and enjoyed several additional, well-marked trails, some that traversed small streams.

Like most nature parcels, Wheelwright Park is open from dawn to dusk, year-round. There is no charge for admission. Look for the entrance off North Main Street in Cohasset. Dogs and horses are welcome.

by Kezia Bacon, November 2012

Kezia Bacon's articles appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at (781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 15 years of Nature (Human and Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com

Whitney and Thayer Woods

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Ode's Den at Whitney and Thayer Woods, Cohasset

Thanks to The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR), Cohasset and Hingham boast some of the largest and most interesting open space areas on the South Shore. World’s End is spectacular – I’ve written about it here before. Weir River Farm, another gem, has also been featured in this column. But until now, I’ve never quite gotten around to exploring another large and notable parcel, Whitney and Thayer Woods, which straddles the Cohasset-Hingham line.

Comprising 824 acres, Whitney and Thayer Woods offers ten miles of walking trails. That’s a lot! Many of these trails are old carriage roads – wide, clear, and well-trod. It’s a little overwhelming to have so many choices when planning one’s route, which is part of the reason it took me so long to begin my explorations. In fact, when I finally did go there, I asked a friend, who knew the property well, to show me around.

Whitney and Thayer Woods is accessible from three places. The southern entrance is on Route 3A in Cohasset, across from the Stop & Shop plaza. The good-sized (20 cars) parking lot connects with two trails, which in turn branch out into three more. From there, there are a number of small and large circuit trails, providing plenty of variety, and possibly some confusion. Be sure to take a map from the kiosk at the entrance. All intersections are numbered and marked for ease of navigation.

Some highlights from the south entrance include: the very large Bigelow Boulder, left behind by a glacier, now a striking sight in the middle of the woods. Also Ode’s Den, a large grouping of rocks named after a man who lived among them after he lost his home in 1830. The American Holly Grove, although quite a walk, is worth exploring too, as is the Milliken Memorial Path, which is lined with shrubs such as rhododendron and azalea – truly a sight to behold if you catch it while the flowers are in bloom.

The second entrance to the property is also on Route 3A, but in Hingham this time, at the foot of Turkey Hill. From the 8-car parking lot, one trail leads up the hill, and another heads down toward the middle of the property, where there is access to several additional trails.

The third entrance is at the very end of Hingham’s Turkey Hill Lane, just past Weir River Farm, and atop Turkey Hill. The lot will hold only 5 cars, but additional parking can be found if you backtrack downhill to Weir River. The hill itself is managed by The Trustees of Reservations, as well as both towns. It is comprised of 62 acres, primarily meadow, an ideal environment for grassland birds. At 187-foot elevation, it offers quite a view. One curiosity on the hilltop is a cinderblock building with a rich history – it was once part of a Cold War-era anti-missile radar control station.

As you head over the hill and down into the woods, again, you will find access to a number of walking trails. These forests used to be farmland, so the hardwoods growing there now are relatively recent. It’s not uncommon to see vestiges of old stone walls amidst the trees. Many, but not all of the trails within Whitney and Thayer Woods permit mountain biking and horseback riding.

In more recent history, after the decline of agriculture in this area but before the arrival of the subdivision, much of the Whitney and Thayer Woods was dedicated to equestrian pursuits. Henry Whitney purchased some of the former-farms and created the bridle paths and carriage roads that are still in existence today. It’s easy to imagine a horse-drawn buggy making its way along some of the wider trails. The Whitney Woods Association, a horseback-riding group, eventually took ownership of 600 acres. In 1933 this was donated to TTOR, as was – a decade later -- additional acreage to the west, owned by the Thayer family. Land acquisition from various sources continued as late as 1999.

Whitney and Thayer Woods, as well as Turkey Hill and Weir River Farm, all are open daily, from sunrise to sunset. Parking and admission to walking trails is free to everyone. Learn more at www.thetrustees.org.

by Kezia Bacon, Correspondent

October 2012

Kezia Bacon's articles appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at (781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 15 years of Nature (Human and Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com

Visiting Holly Hill Farm

photos by Kezia Bacon-Bernstein

Looking for a fun outdoor excursion to enjoy with your family? Head over to Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset, where you can visit for free, any time during the day.

The setting, with rustic barns and assorted antique farm equipment, will interest young and old. While you’re there, see what’s for sale at the farm stand, and meet the animals that live on the premises – hens and roosters, rabbits, goats, a horse and a pony. Wander through the education garden, and find out what students and workshop attendees have planted. If you’re lucky, you‘ll see the farm consultants, Ben and Hannah Wolbach, in action. On a recent visit, my son and I watched Ben plow a field with a large tractor (Major excitement for a 4-year old)! There are several different walking trails too, up to a mile in length.

Located at 236 Jerusalem Road, Holly Hill Farm has been in the White family for five generations. In 2000, its most recent residents, Jean and the late Frank White, launched a commercial organic farming venture there. The property itself comprises 140 acres. Ten acres of that is open fields, and right now there are five acres in production. That’s a lot of land for an operation that employs only a handful of people!

The land, which is surrounded by an additional 120 acres of salt marsh and conservation woodland, has been farmed since the early 17th century. Incarnations over the years have included homestead, summer residence, saw mill, and truck farm, among others. Two post and beam barns on the property date back to 1785. There is also a classic pole beam barn, built in the Civil War era. Today there are also a few small, more modern greenhouses – one of which was donated by Annie’s, the famous purveyor of mac & cheese.



Holly Hill now grows over 75 varieties of organic vegetables, herbs and flowers, and sells eggs produced by its resident chickens. There are annual plant sales in the spring -- there were 15,000 plants for sale this year -- and from June through the end of the harvest, the farm stand, located in a 19th century barn near the entrance of the property, is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 11-6.

Frank White, who grew up at Holly Hill, spent his life as an educator. When he returned to his family’s land in 2000, his goal was to develop the farm so that it could promote sustainable agricultural practices, serve as an environmental resource, and provide educational programs for local schools and the larger community. Frank passed away in 2009, but his legacy lives on.

The Friends of Holly Hill Farm, Inc., established in 2002, is a non-profit educational organization that is dedicated to making the farm’s resources available to the South Shore Community. The Friends offer programs for adults and children, including lectures, movies, workshops, field trips, and summer programs. Part of the group’s mission is to teach how organically grown food is important for our own health, as well as the health of the environment.

Holly Hill has quickly become one of the South Shore’s leading sources of farm-based programs for school children. Education Director Jon Belber, a former classroom teacher and last year’s winner of the Farm-Based Education Association’s Teacher Farmer of the Year award, has been developing and expanding the farm’s education programs for several years now. He co-authored, “A Growing Relationship,” a curriculum guide, with Frank White, which integrates hands-on farm projects with a classroom-based science curriculum.

Belber wants people to know that a local farm can be a great learning spot. “The fields are our classroom,” he says. Many area schools have sponsored 2-hour field trips to Holly Hill, during which the children enjoy a number of hands-on experiences -- tasting foods, digging compost, and learning and seeing how things grow in the farm garden. The programs are an excellent way to help children develop a real-world understanding of basic science.



Belber now works closely with several area schools. For example, under his tutelage, fourth graders from Marshfield’s South River Elementary, along with their teachers Bruce Frost and Jeff Dunn, constructed six raised beds at their school, in which they established a garden, planting garlic in the fall and spinach and peas in the spring. Students from the South Shore Charter School in Norwell have made weekly visits to Holly Hill Farm throughout much of the academic year. Over the course of the 20-week program (fall and spring), they have turned the earth, planted and harvested crops, saved seeds, and made compost – plus learned about crop rotation and natural fertilization methods. All of the Cohasset public schools and most of those in Scituate have participated in farm-based programs too.

This summer, Holly Hill Farm will offer programs for children ages 3-16. Participants will learn about growing healthy organic food and have fun outdoors, doing farm chores like planting seeds, caring for plants, making compost, caring for animals. Plus, they will use food grown on the farm to prepare a meal.

For adults, there will be a film series and the ever-popular workshops; past topics have included: Growing Great Tomatoes Organically, Organic Landscaping and Lawn Care, Cooking a Harvest Meal, Cutting and Arranging Flowers, and Making Compost. Private farm tours – for groups such as garden clubs and scout troops – easily can be arranged.

For more information about Holly Hill Farm, call 781-383-6565, or visit www.hollyhillfarm.org.

By Kezia Bacon-Bernstein, Correspondent
May 2010

Kezia Bacon-Bernstein's articles appear courtesy of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local non-profit organization devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of the North and South Rivers and their watershed. For membership information and a copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at (781) 659-8168 or visit www.nsrwa.org. To browse 13 years of Nature (Human and Otherwise) columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com.